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Christine Daaé (Asia Argento)
Christine Daaé is a young opera singer with aspirations to be the Opera's diva. During her time at the Opera, she comes to the attention of The Phantom of the opera and soon begins communicating with him telepathically while developing a strange attraction to him. Meanwhile she is courted by Raoul, Baron de Chagny whom she initially discourages but gradually forms an attraction to. The Phantom encourages and aids her career by terrorizing the Opera staff and attacking Christine's rival. His actions frighten Christine and push her in the arms of Raoul yet she cannot break her bond with the Phantom nor leave the Opera on the eve of her debut. Her debut however is ruined by the revelation that she is The Phantom's whore. This humiliation provokes the Phantom to kidnap her and for them to flee from the pursing police. Storyline Paris 1877; We see young ingenue Christine Daaé on the empty stage after a performance. Christine sings to the empty auditorium dreaming of a day when she could be the opera's diva. Unbeknownst to her, The Phantom watches her from the shadows. Christine's maid Honorine comes to fetch her for a costume fitting and Christine dismisses her; telling her she will be there in a moment. Christine takes her bows before her imaginary audience before leaving the stage alone. As she makes her way through the Opera House, Christine meets the phantom. Telepathically he communicates with her expressing an interest in her and also inquiring as to who she is. Honorine and Christine lounge in Christine's dressing room talking about Carlotta before Christine receives a bouquet of flowers from Raoul, Baron de Chagny. Honorine mocks Christine about Raoul's attention but Christine makes no comment. The rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet are underway with Carlotta as Juliet. As Christine watches the rehearsals she speaks with The Phantom telepathically and arranges to meet with him the wings. Before leaving the stage, Carlotta, makes her dislike of Christine known as she swishes her with her cape. Christine meets the phantom amongst the disused props in the wings. He proceeds to sniff her; intoxicated by her "female smell". He makes her promises and professes his love for her before abruptly leaving. Raoul and Christine visit a tearoom where she promptly tells him about her dislike for the bouquet he sent. She expresses how much the poetry he sent her touched her. She tells him that she thinks of him as "the brother she never had". At the Opera House, Honorine and Christine are in the dressing room when the frightened ballerinas burst in followed by Monsieur Buquet dressed in a cloak imitating The Phantom. Honorine knocks him to the ground with a stool. Monsieur Buquet insists that he was only teaching the children about the dangers of the Phantom. He tells the story of Gustave and his workers' murders which tells us that a year has passed since Christine first met The Phantom on the same night. Christine because distressed and faint as they talk about the Phantom and his watching her sing on the stage. Carlotta develops a sore throat and Christine must take her place. As she rehearses the piece, she gazes frantically between The Phantom in the shadows and Raoul in the stalls. The strain becomes too much for her and she collapses and has to be revived with smelling salts in her dressing room. The Phantom visits Christine when she wakes but promptly disappears while Raoul listens at the door. Christine slips away and Raoul searches her room for a concealed lover but finds nothing. Christine returns from an outing to find Honorine smoking a pipe which Honorine tries to hide. Christine gifts her favorite perfumed tobacco before asking her to fetch her some coffee. As she sits before her dressing table, Christine confesses that she loves both The Phantom and Raoul. The Phantom hears her words and beckons her to the mirror. He plays his organ and lets the music lead her through the passageways to his lair. When she arrives he demands that she sing to accompany his playing before they go to bed together. Post coitus they embrace as The Phantom reveals his abandonment and slips his ring onto Christine's finger.The night morning, he is awoken to find Christine playing the organ. He tells her that she will sing the role of Juliet that night at the Opera. She tells him that she doesn't want to before they argue viciously and the Phantom sails away leaving her abandoned in the house by the lake. Christine patiently waits for The Phantom's return knowing that he has done something horrible to get her the role of Juliet. When he does return their fighting continues resulting in the Phantom raping her. The Rat Catcher also witnesses this through a crack in the wall. The next morning Christine awakes and finds The Phantom lounging on a couch covered in rats. He seems to be aroused by the rats running across his bare chest and down his trousers. After witnessing this; Christine flees the lair. As she traverses the tunnels she finds Raoul who has been searching for her, they leave together. Christine longs to be away from the Phantom and takes Raoul up onto the rooftop. Chrsitine explains what The Phantom means to her before the two declare their love for each other with a kiss. They are joined by Honorine and Poligny who insist she must sing Juliet. The following evening, Christine takes to the stage as Juliet. Her performance is interrupted however by the injured Rat Catcher limping onto the stage and calling Christine; "The Phantom's whore!". This prompts The Phantom to fly onto the stage and abduct the fainting Christine. Raoul sees this and follows in an effort to save Christine. When Christine awakes underground she hits the Phantom on the temple with a stone but immediately begs forgiveness. The Phantom leads her away as they hear the approaching mob. Raoul is the first to discover them and shoots The Phantom with a rifle found in the cellars. Christine weeps to see The Phantom injured but the phantom implores Raoul to take Christine away so that she is safe from the mob. The three reach the waterfront and Raoul and Christine get on the Phantom's boat. Christine beseeches Raoul to return to shore for the Phantom as the mob surround him. The Phantom is shot by a solider who he manages to overpower, he is shot a third time before he is stabbed by The crazed Rat Catcher. He pulls out the blade and proceeds to stab The Rat Catcher to death before limping towards the water's edge. He raises his arms, calls out Christine's name and is stabbed fatally. The Phantom falls into the water: dead. The rats morn his loss and Christine is inconsolable and does not notice that the Phantom's ring slips from her finger into the water fading to the end credits. Portrayal This Christine still attempts to be very sweet and innocent. She is warm towards the other inhabitants of the opera and has a particularly affectionate relationship with Honorine. However overall she is quiet and bland when she is not directly interacting with others. At the beginning of the movie, she pretends to be preforming in front of an audience with almost childlike enthusiasm. Yet her interest in her career disappears quite quickly and she even goes so far as to repeatedly say she doesn't want to play Juliet. She enjoys playing the role eventually but she seems largely disinterested in her music or career. One of the divining features of this portray is how highly sexualised the character is. This is either from direction given or by the choice of the actress. Whenever she interacts with Raoul or the Phantom she is often breathless either from terror or unbridled desire. Her costume at times can be revealing and there is nudity as well. Relationships The Phantom: ''Christine both fears and desires The Phantom and is torn between the two emotions whenever they met. The two share an intimate connection as The Phantom speaks with her telepathically and meets her in person several times. Almost anytime they do meet, they embrace in someway. Unlike other versions, The Phantom in no way gives Christine singing lessons although he still is moved by her voice and wants her career to progress. Their relationship develops over a year before Christine confesses that she loves him and travels to his lair underground. In this version, Christine and the Phantom consummate their relationship. This is the only onscreen coupling of The Phantom and Christine to date. They constantly profess their love for each other and yet do argue viciously with one and other and even attack each other. Christine thinks of the phantom as a dark part of her own personality and that explains why she is inexplicably drawn towards him. When he is injured and dies, Christine is inconsolable meaning there must be some real feeling towards the Phantom. ''Raoul de Chagny : Christine's relationship with Raoul begins with Raoul's affectionate courting. He sends her a bouquet of roses and poetry until she agrees to meet him for tea. while Christine expresses distaste for roses (preferring simpler flowers) she does admit that she was profoundly touched by his poetry. Raoul hopes that they may develop a friendship but Christine firmly tells him that she thinks of him as "the brother she never had". Despite this, Christine is moved when he kisses her hand. Raoul continues to pursue Christine despite her efforts to keep him at arms length. During this time, Christine finds herself falling in love with Raoul. After her traumatic stay in The Phantom's lair, she is rescued by Raoul and comforted. It is then that she realizes how much she loves Raoul and kisses him repeatedly. When The Phantom abducts Christine it is Raoul that comes to her rescue and takes her away to safety. It is unknown if her love for Raoul would survive The Phantom's death provided Raoul shot him. Honorine: Honorine is Christine's maid but also her most faithful friend. Honorine would do anything for Christine but is not above giving her a piece of her mind. The two have an affectionate bond and are seen gossiping through the movie. Carlotta: Christine and Carlotta dislike each other immensely. This is likely due to being rivals at the Opera House though no explanation is given. Trivia * Argento's Christine is one of the few Christines to have a sexual relationship with The Phantom. Other's include Love Never Dies, Phantom of Manhattan and Susan Kay's Phantom. Argento's Christine is the only version to show intimate scenes between the two characters while other depictions just state that intercourse happened. * Argento's Christine is one of the few Christines not to be taught to sing by The Phantom. Media Gallery Category:Christines Category:Female characters Category:Argento characters